Hunter's Moon: Lunar Mates, #8

By Loribelle Hunt

Gia Roberts is part of a secret organization of humans who hunt rogue shifters, none of whom know she's a shifter herself and a werewolf princess. Her royal heritage is her most closely guarded secret known only by her family. It's not a bad life but lately she's been wanting more.

Then the unexpected happens and her group forms a tentative alliance with the werewolf hunters. Her boss pairs her up with Anthony, the leader of the group. Working with him is torture. He's irritating. He gets on her last nerve. And he sets her body on fire.

The last thing Gia wants to do is give into the craving she feels for the wolf, but he gets harder to resist with each passing week. When yet another secret from her past comes back to haunt her, will she be able to trust him with everything or will he be the worst enemy of all?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Loribelle Hunt
• Release date: Jun 22, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386040828

Loribelle Hunt

Loribelle is like the South she calls home. Hot and sultry. Languid and sexy. Magnolias and gardenias scent her silk lined boudoir, and men and children alike bow to her magnificence... Okay, maybe it isn’t quite that glamorous. She does have two smart and lovely daughters who give her a run for her money and a son that will one day be someone’s model of a romance hero. (She promises.) Her husband is a real life hero, and Loribelle just tries to keep up with the demands of military life. In between, she writes a book or two. She’s had every job under the sun, but haven’t most writers? That Army military police, bookstore manager, waitress, wedding photographer, website designer experience has to come in useful sometimes. As they say in the South, it all washes out in the end. She loves hearing from her readers and can be found at http://www.loribellehunt.com.

Book preview

HUNTER’S MOON

Gia Roberts is part of a secret organization of humans who hunt rogue shifters, none of whom know she’s a shifter herself and a werewolf princess. Her royal heritage is her most closely guarded secret known only by her family. It’s not a bad life but lately she’s been wanting more.

Then the unexpected happens and her group forms a tentative alliance with the werewolf hunters. Her boss pairs her up with Anthony, the leader of the group. Working with him is torture. He’s irritating. He gets on her last nerve. And he sets her body on fire.

The last thing Gia wants to do is give into the craving she feels for the wolf, but he gets harder to resist with each passing week. When yet another secret from her past comes back to haunt her, will she be able to trust him with everything or will he be the worst enemy of all?

HUNTER’S MOON

LUNAR MATES EIGHT

BY

LORIBELLE HUNT

Copyright

Hunter’s Moon

Copyright © 2017 Loribelle Hunt

First E-book Published: June 2017

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, organizations, events, or locations is coincidental.

Published by Loribelle Hunt

www.loribellehunt.com

Author's Note

Welcome to Lunar Mates! The Lunar Mates series began in 2006 and to celebrate its ten year anniversary each book is being revised and updated. Over the next few months I will be releasing new editions of the other books in the series. Next up is Risking The Moon in the fall of 2017. If you'd like to be notified of new releases please join my mailing list or my Facebook Reader Group for updates.

Contents

Copyright

Author's Note

Prologue

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

More From Loribelle Hunt

Risking the Moon: Lunar Mates 9 (Excerpt)

Prologue

The pressure had finally sent him over the edge. It was the only reason her cousin Gage would have agreed to this crackpot plan her uncle had concocted. Gia paced the sitting room of the upscale hotel suite Gage had taken for the weekend and listened while another cousin of theirs, Lilah, joined them on Skype and added her opinion. Gia had driven down from her small town in North Carolina to see Gage in person, but Lilah had recently given birth to twin daughters and her mates had refused to let her join them in person.

Gia snorted. That was exactly what she was trying to avoid, finding herself mated to an autocratic dictator with dreams of living in the Middle Ages, when it might have been acceptable to completely control his mate’s life. The werewolf world had changed, not enough for her tastes yet, but it had and Anthony, the leader of the hunters and the other half of her uncle’s hair brained scheme would just assume shove modern society off the edge of the Earth. He’d look sexy as hell doing it, no doubt, but she knew better than to spend one second longer than necessary with a wolf who wanted to claim her. 

Julian’s right, Gia, Gage said. This is the best way to deflect Anthony’s suspicion of your group, and you are by far the most qualified for this partnership.

Julian was her mother’s brother and like the others in his organization was human. They’d successfully hidden their existence for decades, though at one time they’d been aligned with the Regis. Then one of their own had stalked a woman, who happened to be Anthony’s friend and under his protection. Nothing wrong with that and it certainly wasn’t unusual for a werewolf, mate or not, to protect a woman. Anthony was not an average wolf though. He was smart as hell and he’d recently discovered the existence of a female werewolf. Until recently, they had been pure myth but now that he had proof—her cousin Lilah—he’d begun to search more diligently. None of the people in this room, whether physically or on Skype, wanted him delving too deeply there.

Besides, we need someone close to Anthony, Gage continued. We need to know what he’s found out and what he suspects.

She always wondered if her cousin could read minds. Lilah’s identity was now known, though being a female shifter wasn’t widely known, but that wasn’t even the most dangerous part of it. Now Anthony knew Lilah was part of the Regis family, who’d once ruled the werewolves. The last Regis, Gia’s and Lilah’s great uncle, had been betrayed by some of his hunters and ultimately murdered by rogues. His pack had scattered. Anyone who could claim his throne, or bear a son to claim his throne, was raised in secrecy. Her whole life she’d been raised to view hunters with suspicion, to hide who and what she was, and now they wanted her to go into the lion’s den.

Declan has assured me they don’t know who you or I are, Gage pressed on.

She didn’t have anything to do with her father’s brother and Gage knew it, but if anyone was in a position to protect her secrets inside the hunters, it was Declan. They were his secrets too, after all. She had no idea why he’d stayed with the hunters so long but there was no denying his presence had helped shelter many more than just her and Lilah.  How many records had he altered over the years? He’d changed his own history and wiped out hers. Anthony couldn’t find out who she was unless she told him, and she didn’t dare risk that. He might be able to deal with her being a female werewolf, might accept the independence that was so much a part of her nature. She’d stayed hidden partly because of those things. But even if she’d been born male, she never would have stayed in a pack. She was a lone wolf, through and through. If he ever found out she was part of the Regis family, he would push for answers. He would demand she give up the rest of her relatives, especially that elusive living Regis. Her cousin. Gage. Who was now watching her very suspiciously.

There’s something you aren’t telling us.

She sighed. There wasn’t much point in hiding it was there? She moved into view of the laptop camera so she could see Lilah too. I’m not sure I can keep the things that should remain secret from him if I’m forced into prolonged exposure.

They both understood exactly what she was saying though she hid the turmoil that had plagued her since she met him. Would he accept she could shift? Because she wouldn’t be able to hide that indefinitely. If he found out what family she came from, could she hide their identities? If he found out about Gage would he accept his king or betray him like his predecessors?

He’s your mate, Gage said softly. If you want to disappear I’ll arrange it, and I’ll protect you with all the power at my disposal. Which was considerable. But I’d never ask you to choose your mate over me.

For a second, she was stunned by that offer but it morphed into anger soon enough. Not really at him. More at the situation. And I’d never accept a mate who forced me to make that choice.

After a moment he nodded. They both accepted their places in the world. They were family, yes, but he was also her king.

I’ll pull you out anytime you need, Gage promised.

She intended to hold him to it.

One

Eight Months Later

Anthony left his clothes in a pile in the SUV’s backseat and shifted into his wolf form as he walked toward the waiting woman. He smiled a wolfy grin at Gia’s wide eyed expression. And was that jealousy that flashed in her eyes? It was gone so fast he couldn’t be sure. Few werewolves could shift while moving, but he was far from ordinary. To his annoyance, she quickly covered her reaction with chilly disdain, spun on her heel, and strode away.

He sat on his haunches to admire her. Her steps were soft, but